Artificial fishing lures are an important part of sport fishing. Artificial or man-made lures are designed to simulate a fish's natural food source. The more "life like" the bait, the greater potential for catching a fish. It is generally accepted that fish are harder to catch with artificial bait than with natural, live bait. It is therefore an object of the sport fisherman to develop an artificial lure which provides an overwhelming attraction to the fish.
Artificial lures can be divided into basic types, among them plugs, spoons, jugs, feathers, spinners and soft-plastic lures. Further discussion on each of these lures can be found in Wisner, Bill, The Fishermen's Source Book 1983, McMillin Publishing Company, Inc., New York.
Many tournaments, especially bass tournaments, require the use of artificial lures. In fact, there is only one natural bait which may be used in sanctioned bass tournaments: pork rind. According to regulation 7 of the Bass Angler Sportsman Society (BASS) 1987-1988 Bassmaster.RTM. Tournament Official Rules and Regulations: "Only artificial lures may be used. No `live bait` or `prepared bait` will be permitted, with the exception of pork strips, rinds, etc. . . . " (Christian, Chris, Bass Fisherman's Digest, 1988 DBI Books, Inc., Northbrook, Ill., p. 237).
There are literally hundreds of different artificial lures on the market today. Examples of various lures can be found in the patent literature. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,655,642 to Steinman discloses a spoon-type fishing lure including a barbed hook and a weed guard. The hook includes an elongated shank having at one end the eyelet secured to the inner portion of the spoon by a rivet. U.S. Pat. No. 3,096,597 to Dickenson and U.S. Pat. No. 4,183,167 to Young et al. disclose a fishing lure with a removable hook. U.S. Pat. No. 4,432,157 to Gowing discloses a fishing lure in which the hook and weed guard are attached at the same area by a removable screw. U.S. Pat. No. 4,231,179 to Hillesland discloses a lure comprising a hook having additional barbs to hold trailer bait. U.S. Pat. No. 4,653,218 to Margulis and U.S. Pat. No. 2,611,987 to Hagen disclose fishing lures having a rotatable or spinning piece.
While patents are available which disclose one or more desired features of a fishing lure, there are apparently no patents or references which disclose a unique combination of a lightweight spoon, weed guard attached at the front or leading edge of the spoon and a hook with a barb, the lure being specifically designed to have trailer bait attached to it.